Public Participation in Hazardous Waste Facility Location Decisions

Abstract

Public opposition continues to stymie siting of new hazardous waste management facilities in the United States. A review of the literature indicates that much effort has been undertaken in the states to institutionalize public participation in the siting process. However, informal public participation such as public pressure on local elected officials and active passive civil disobedience has been most influential in the denigration of siting proposals. Current state siting procedures suffer from numerous critical flaws: facility needs assessments are rarely performed, and there is much elasticity in the demand for off-site facilities since alternative management options are available; serious and credible environmental sensitivity studies tend to be site specific, but no corresponding regional reference studies indicate that the proposed site is relatively advantageous; and early and meaningful public participation in the siting process has not achieved socially acceptable proposals. These flaws must be addressed effectively in order to provide for safe facilities when they will be needed in the late 1980s and early 1990s.